"Shit!", Xing Cai cursed as shifted her attention back and forth, waving her great sword to blow the tens of disciples that were circling around her.
Maybe she should have attacked the horde when they were still stagnant? Then maybe they could have avoided this sticky situation they were in right now.
No, she had a feeling that the outcome would still be the same, as this whole place was definitely a trap… and they were lured right to it.
No matter what she thought, it will not change the fact that they were currently surrounded.
No… wait, now that the guardsmen were gone, should she and Viel really just make a run for the portal?
"Explosion!"
But then her idea was once again instantly shut down as she heard a shout from beside him.
That was right, there was still one guardsman that survived- the small guard, he did not join the formation.
Everything was happening so fast that Xing Cai could only focus on herself. Xing Cai quickly glanced at the small guard.
And even though he was struggling, his skills and techniques seemed to be ideal for fighting multiple enemies. He wasn't instantly defeating the disciples, but the technique he was using was blowing the enemies away from him.
The small guard once again shouted as a form of heatwave blew from his body.
Xing Cai thought that this skill was very familiar. But Xing Cai shook her head, this was not the time for thoughts. She should concentrate on her own battle.
So, after taking a last glance at Viel and making sure he was doing okay, Xing Cai decided to fight seriously and focus on her fight.
She crouched down like a wolf and pushed herself forward as she waved her sword, effectively either cutting or crushing the feet of a dozen disciples.
She was like flying just an inch above the ground as she moved in a zig-zag path, plowing numerous disciples that blocked her way. She continued to do this until she reached the wall of the other end of the training ground.
She took a deep breath to stabilize herself. She looked at the damage of her attack, and sure enough, it was significant. Almost a fourth of the number of the horde were now rendered useless.
But this wasn't over, and she knew it. Slowly, the disciples who had their legs crushed stood again, one by one. And this time, they did not only just stand, no. They went into a stance.
A stance that Xing Cai was fairly familiar with. It was the basic stance of Golden Pavilion's hand to hand combat technique.
Xing Cai could not help but grit her teeth. It would seem that this was only going to get harder. Should she use her newly found technique?
No, that would be reckless. The building might collapse, taking the portal along with it. And, with a grunt, Xing Cai had no choice but to rush again. But this time, with a different strategy. Instead of their feet, Xing Cai was going to crush their whole body, one by one. It was the only way she knew how to lure the treant outside of their body, after all.
And so, once again, she started her rampage. This would be a long battle, Xing Cai thought.
The small guard's situation was boding well. As sweat could be seen oozing from his chin, he was starting to get tired.
All he could really do was to blast the disciples away. Sure, he could damage some of the disciples that were nearing him, but most barely even had a scratch on them.
And the reason for that was simple. Most of the disciples here were inner-disciples of the Golden Pavilion. The small guard, was, in the simplest of terms, outmatched.
There was also another reason why he was so exhausted, though. Behind him, was Viel, who currently had his eyes closed. He has been trying his best not to let any disciple near Viel, as he was currently out of it.
He was protecting him.
"Br…Mr. Viel, what are you doing!?"
The small guard shouted Viel's name, which immediately made Viel open his eyes.
"Oh, you're still alive?", Viel nonchalantly asked.
"W-what!? Of course, I am still alive, I won't be worthy as your brother if I wasn't!", the guard stuttered as he once again blew a group of disciples away, "Gah!", he then grunted in pain as he touched his stomach.
"Brother?", Viel had a very annoyed expression on his face. Why was this guardsman being so friendly with him and calling him brother?
In truth, Viel no longer cared for this guard. This small guard was associated with the guardsman that died earlier, so in the mind of Viel, he was the same as him. He would throw rocks at Viel and ridicule him if he had the chance.
They were all the same, Viel thought. And with that, he once again closed his eyes.
Viel was actually trying to find a skill that will not damage the current surrounding. But almost everything that was being suggested to him by Mr. Voice was either too destructive, or something that he could not control properly yet. He also did not want to engage in close combat, as he found the enemy too disgusting to approach.
And so, he just decided to use the skills he was most familiar with.
[Soul 02: Hell's Gate]
A dark fiery hole instantly appeared below the hundreds of lifeless disciples. Everything, including the rubble and the vines that were scattered in the ground started to slowly sink inside the hole.
There were visible sweat coming from Viel's body as it shook. But this was not because he was using too much power, no. It was because he was trying his best to contain the skill so that it won't destroy any parts of the building.
A loud high-pitched scream filled the entire training ground as the hundreds of lifeless disciples that were slowly sinking in the black hole started to combust.
The small guard was so shocked at the scene that he was not even aware that he was also slowly sinking.
But lucky for him, before he could combust like the rest of the disciples, Xing Cai rushed to pull him from the fiery hole, throwing him to a safe spot behind Viel, knocking his helmet off in the process.
And just like that, in an under a minute, all the disciples and treants, were gone. Only the ashes of their remains still lingered as it floated in the air.
"Whew", Viel had a very satisfied expression on his face as he wiped all the sweat that built up on his face, "That was maximum effort, Sister Xing Ca-"
But before Viel could even finish his words, he heard and felt a slap hit right on his cheek.
"S-sister Xing Cai?", Viel was bewildered. He thought that Xing Cai would be proud of him for killing the monsters without any significant damage to the building, instead, he was slapped.
"Why didn't you use that skill earlier!?", Xing Cai shouted in frustration.
"Well, you told me not to use a power I can't fully control. You also told me to not to act rashly because there are people fighting beside me", Viel then raised his fingers and wagged it in the air, "Well, the other people were squashed. So then no more people were fighting beside me, so I used the skill I knew best… I tried my best to control it! Then woosh! I knew you would survive it, Sister Xin-"
Viel's continuous rambling was interrupted by another slap.
"What about him!?", Xing Cai pointed at the small guard that was sitting flat on the ground, speechless. "You almost burned him to death!"
"Meh. They're the ones who told me I am a monster anyway", Viel didn't even look at the small guard as he crossed his arms, visibly annoyed.
Hearing this, Xing Cai could not help but release a wry breath as she came into a realization. This was it. The reason why Viel was acting the way he was.
Xing Cai thought that Viel was slowly recovering from the oppression that he has experienced from the city. But she was wrong.
Viel was not recovering, he was adapting. It was subtle, but Xing Cai was seeing it now, the pattern.
The very first skill that she saw Viel used was Diao Mei's, during the entrance examination.
He remembered how Viel imitated her when she wanted to check his combat ability early in their acquaintance.
Li Zhao showed him violence and cruelty, and he returned it in double.
His Grandfather was decapitated, and so he decapitated his grandfather's killers. The corpses of the drakels that were scattered in the city of Taizhou were also decapitated.
Viel… was a sponge. Absorbing everything around him in quite the literal way. It, of course, did not help that he was just a 5-year old child.
"Viel… look at me", Xing Cai's tone started to warm up as she gently lifted Viel's chin and looked at him directly in the eye, "You are not a monster"
"Hmph", Viel quickly looked to the side as he pouted.
"You are my brother"
Viel's pout slowly disappeared as he took sidelong glances towards Xing Cai. He was about to say something, but a voice interrupted him from behind.
"Don't forget! You, are also my brother!"
Both Viel and Xing Cai could not help but look towards the source of the voice. It was the small guard.
No.
It was…
"Brother Song!?"
With his helmet being knocked off earlier, the small guard's face was now exposed for everyone to see.
The small guard was none other than Wei Song.